Ex-San Juan dog is homeless no more

Triton, foreground, goes for a ride with his new sister, Noel, after Triton was adopted by Katelyn Jean, 24, of Reading, Mass. Jean works for the boarding facility where Triton had been living since Great Dog Rescue New England took over his care in June. COURTESY OF KATELYN JEAN

A dog that was rescued and adopted in San Juan Capistrano and then left homeless again 3,000 miles away now has a new family in Massachusetts.

Triton, a 5-year-old German shepherd mix, was adopted Friday by an employee of the boarding facility where he had been living since being taken in by Great Dog Rescue New England in June. He ended up there when a veterinary clinic in Chelmsford, Mass., turned him over to GDR after his owners dropped him off at the clinic in March, requesting that he be euthanized because he had killed the family cat. The vet refused, and GDR director Joanna Reck has said she doubts the owners' story.

The Ark of San Juan, an animal-rescue organization in San Juan Capistrano, had taken Triton out of the Orange County Animal Shelter last November and adopted him to a San Juan family in January. The family later moved with Triton to Massachusetts.

Now, Triton has a new owner, Katelyn Jean, 24, of Reading, Mass., who works for The Ruff House, a boarding facility in Westford, Mass.

Jean, who has worked there just three months, said her relationship with Triton was "love at first sight."

"He got attached to me. He didn't give me an option. (The adoption) had to happen," Jean said.

"He's doing very well," she said, adding that Tuesday was Triton's fifth birthday.

Jean said she believes Triton gnawed on crates he was put in during his journey from San Juan to Massachusetts, costing him most of his teeth.

Triton, or "Chunk," as the folks at The Ruff House call him, will get to visit the facility when Jean is working, which she says is ideal since Triton had suffered separation anxiety before.

Jean has one other dog, a 3-month-old husky/labradoodle/collie mix who she said is getting along with Triton.

"They love each other," Jean said.

Jean said she "did a little dance in the kitchen" after adopting Triton.

The Ark of San Juan raised more than $2,200 in October to fly Triton back to San Juan Capistrano if adoption arrangements couldn't be made in Massachusetts.

"We are all so happy, as we knew the right home was out there for him," Kathy Hammersly, an Ark board member, said Tuesday.

Most of the money The Ark raised will be reallocated for other uses, Hammersly said. Some will be refunded at donor request.

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